Half of Broward's classes have too many students

The Broward School District has failed to meet the state's class-size limits, with too many students in about half of its classes, officials announced late Friday.

That's far higher than last year — when 97.8 percent of classes were below the caps — and despite the added flexibility state lawmakers gave schools to comply this year.

But new Superintendent Robert Runcie emphasized the district wasn't that far off. On average, class sizes are close to the 2002 law's original limits — no more than 18 students in pre-K to third-grade classes, 22 in middle school and 25 in high school.

Broward had 18.5 students, on average, per core class in pre-K to third-grade classes, 21.7 in middle school and 27 in high school.

"There isn't some explosion in the number of students per class," he said.

But the law isn't based on averages, it's based on the number of students in each class. If just one is over, then the district will face a fine. Last year, Broward paid about $732,000.

Runcie said Friday that he wasn't sure what fine Broward could face this year. The School Board will discuss the numbers Tuesday along with strategies to reduce them.

Other districts have changed high school schedules and encouraged students to take virtual classes, Runcie said. But he said he's not ready to propose any particular solution yet.

Runcie called Friday's numbers "preliminary" and said district officials would have solid data Tuesday. Broward sent the numbers Friday to the state Department of Education. The state now must verify them.

"It's going to come in somewhere close to 50 percent in compliance," Runcie said.

He said the district also will review class sizes in electives, such as drama or physical education, which in some cases have 60 or more students.

The emphasis, he said, will be on what's best for students, not "just chasing a class size number."

But "we'll look at all opportunities for keeping class sizes at a minimum," he said.

Barbara Bell, a history teacher at Fort Lauderdale High School, said most reading and math classes at her school are under the caps. But her 11th-grade classes, which include honors and one "core" class, aren't.

Her biggest honors class has 33 students, which is allowed. Her "core" class has 34, which isn't.

"I find that I'm kind of pulled in a bunch of directions at once," she said.

Board member Donna Korn said she was disappointed by Broward's numbers but said most classes were close to the limits. She said electives with 60-plus students were "anomalies."

"It's not as if we're stacking classes," she said.

This year, lawmakers dramatically reduced the number of classes subject to the caps. The change upset many parents, particularly because Advanced Placement and foreign language classes are now allowed to grow from 25 students each to 30, 40 or even more.

There's also extra flexibility for districts after Friday. About 300 core classes in all grade levels can add three to five more newly-enrolled students, if creating a new class isn't possible.

The changes were meant to make it easier for districts to comply — and, for some, it did.

Palm Beach County announced Friday that it was in complete compliance. School officials spent $27 million this year to hire new teachers and pay others extra for picking up additional classes.

Runcie said Broward did a "fairly decent job" given its financial constraints. With a $171 million shortfall, Broward cut about 1,000 teachers.

Of 67,000 "core" classes in Broward, about 33,500 classes were over the limits. About 90 percent of those were within four students or fewer of the cap, Runcie said.

Teachers say bigger classes mean they give less one-on-one attention to students, take longer to grade and return homework, and can't cover as much material in class.

Anne Skurnick, a sixth-grade science teacher at Pines Middle in Pembroke Pines, has to do labs on the floor because there isn't enough space. She said all five of her classes were over the caps despite efforts to reduce the numbers.

She said her biggest class has 30 students.

"You're not going to be able to spend as much time with these kids as you need to," she said.